Method and apparatus for providing a calculated route using waypoints  associated with a traveled route

ABSTRACT

An approach is provided for providing a calculated route using waypoints associated with a traveled route. A traveled route platform processes and/or facilitates a processing of one or more location logs to determine one or more waypoints, wherein the one or more location logs include, at least in part, one or more location samples for at least one device on a traveled route. The traveled route platform then processes and/or facilitates a processing of the one or more waypoints via one or more routing engines to determine a calculated route as a representation of the traveled route.

BACKGROUND

Service providers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) and devicemanufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value andconvenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling networkservices. One area of development includes services and technologies forcalculating routes. For example, Global Positioning System (GPS) dataalong with other location detection techniques may be utilized todetermine a route traveled by a user. A user device (e.g., cellulardevice) may, for instance, detect a GPS signal and determine the pathtraveled by its user. However, in many cases, GPS signal may beunavailable or inaccurate, especially in urban areas with tallbuildings. Users of traditional systems may, for instance, experiencedistortions or inaccuracies in the calculated routes representing theirtraveled paths due to multipath effects (e.g., radio signals reflectingoff buildings), artificial sources of interference (e.g.,electromagnetic interference), and the like. Accordingly, serviceproviders and device manufacturers face significant challenges inproviding accurate route calculation to its users.

SOME EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Therefore, there is a need for an approach for providing a calculatedroute using waypoints associated with a traveled route.

According to one embodiment, a method comprises processing and/orfacilitating a processing of one or more location logs to determine oneor more waypoints, wherein the one or more location logs include, atleast in part, one or more location samples for at least one device on atraveled route. The method also comprises processing and/or facilitatinga processing of the one or more waypoints via one or more routingengines to determine a calculated route as a representation of thetraveled route.

According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprises at least oneprocessor, and at least one memory including computer program code forone or more computer programs, the at least one memory and the computerprogram code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause, atleast in part, the apparatus to process and/or facilitate a processingof one or more location logs to determine one or more waypoints, whereinthe one or more location logs include, at least in part, one or morelocation samples for at least one device on a traveled route. Theapparatus is also caused to process and/or facilitate a processing ofthe one or more waypoints via one or more routing engines to determine acalculated route as a representation of the traveled route.

According to another embodiment, a computer-readable storage mediumcarries one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause, at least in part, anapparatus to process and/or facilitate a processing of one or morelocation logs to determine one or more waypoints, wherein the one ormore location logs include, at least in part, one or more locationsamples for at least one device on a traveled route. The apparatus isalso caused to process and/or facilitate a processing of the one or morewaypoints via one or more routing engines to determine a calculatedroute as a representation of the traveled route.

According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprises means forprocessing and/or facilitating a processing of one or more location logsto determine one or more waypoints, wherein the one or more locationlogs include, at least in part, one or more location samples for atleast one device on a traveled route. The apparatus also comprises meansfor processing and/or facilitating a processing of the one or morewaypoints via one or more routing engines to determine a calculatedroute as a representation of the traveled route.

In addition, for various example embodiments of the invention, thefollowing is applicable: a method comprising facilitating a processingof and/or processing (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at leastone signal, the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least onesignal based, at least in part, on (or derived at least in part from)any one or any combination of methods (or processes) disclosed in thisapplication as relevant to any embodiment of the invention.

For various example embodiments of the invention, the following is alsoapplicable: a method comprising facilitating access to at least oneinterface configured to allow access to at least one service, the atleast one service configured to perform any one or any combination ofnetwork or service provider methods (or processes) disclosed in thisapplication.

For various example embodiments of the invention, the following is alsoapplicable: a method comprising creating and/or modifying (1) at leastone device user interface element and/or (2) at least one device userinterface functionality, the (1) at least one device user interfaceelement and/or (2) at least one device user interface functionalitybased at least in part on data and/or information resulting from one orany combination of methods (or processes) disclosed in this applicationas relevant to any embodiment of the invention, and/or at least onesignal resulting from one or any combination of methods (or processes)disclosed in this application as relevant to any embodiment of theinvention.

In various example embodiments, the methods (or processes) can beaccomplished on the service provider side or on the mobile device sideor in any shared way between service provider and mobile device withactions being performed on both sides.

For various example embodiments, the following is applicable: Anapparatus comprising means for performing the method of any oforiginally filed claims 1-10, and 21-30, and 46-48.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention arereadily apparent from the following detailed description, simply byillustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. Theinvention is also capable of other and different embodiments, and itsseveral details can be modified in various obvious respects, all withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thedrawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature,and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, andnot by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system capable of providing a calculated routeusing waypoints associated with a traveled route, according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the components of a traveled route platform,according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for providing a calculated routeusing waypoints associated with a traveled route, according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for designating an area as aconquered area, according to one embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are ladder diagrams for providing a calculated routeusing waypoints associated with a traveled route, according to variousembodiments;

FIGS. 6A-6C are diagrams of user interfaces utilized in the processes ofFIG. 3, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of hardware that can be used to implement anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a chip set that can be used to implement anembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a mobile terminal (e.g., handset) that can beused to implement an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

Examples of a method, apparatus, and computer program for providing acalculated route using waypoints associated with a traveled route aredisclosed. In the following description, for the purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. It isapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of theinvention may be practiced without these specific details or with anequivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system capable of providing a calculated routeusing waypoints associated with a traveled route, according to oneembodiment. As discussed, route calculation may be performed for a routetraveled by a user using GPS data obtained by the user's device (e.g.,mobile device). However, GPS data along with data collected using otherlocation detection techniques frequently contain errors as a result ofmultipath effects (e.g., radio signals reflecting off buildings),artificial sources of interference (e.g., electromagnetic interference),and the like. Errors may, for instance, be prevalent in urban areas thatcontain hard surfaces (e.g., sidewalks, roads, buildings, etc.), sourcesof interference, and the like. Although service providers may attempt toprovide accurate route calculate by simply filtering out detectederrors, many errors associated with the location detection data are notdetected and, thus, obscure calculations for the traveled route.

To address this problem, a system 100 of FIG. 1 introduces thecapability to provide a calculated route using waypoints associated witha traveled route. By way of example, the system 100 may determine one ormore waypoints based on location samples of a traveled route (e.g.,traveled by a user with a user device) in a location log. Thosewaypoints may then be processed via a routing engine to determine acalculated route as a representation of the traveled route. As such, byusing waypoints associated with the location samples (e.g., GPS locationdata) to compute the calculated route (as opposed to deriving thecalculated route directly from the location samples), the errorsassociated with the location samples may be mitigated. Specifically, thecalculated route may utilize routes provided by routing engines, such assidewalks, streets, paths, etc., rather than certain location pointtrajectories actually received from the GPS sensor, such as throughbuildings, rivers, and the like. It is noted that, in some embodiments,the calculated route (or routes) may be utilized in a game, forinstance, to designate an area as conquered based on the calculatedroute.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 comprises user equipment (UE) 101having connectivity to traveled route platform 103 via a communicationnetwork 105. In one embodiment, UE 101 may detect a physical location ofthe UE 101 using a sensor module 107. Additionally, or alternatively,the UE 101 and/or the traveled route platform 103 may access one or morelocation logs 109. In this manner, the traveled route platform 103 mayprocess (e.g., filter, error correct, etc.) one or more location samplesfrom one or more location logs to determine one or more waypoints tostore in waypoint log 111. The traveled route platform 103 may thenprocess one or more waypoints (e.g., using one or more routing engines)to determine a calculated route representing a route traveled by the UE101 and associate the calculated route with one or more users in a userlog 113. It is contemplated that a user log 113 may be located at thetraveled route platform 103 (e.g., user log 113 a), for example, for agame associated with the traveled route platform 103, located at alocation-based gaming provider 115 (e.g., user log 113 k), etc.

In one embodiment, the system 100 comprises a service platform 117, theservices 119 a-119 n (also collectively referred to as services 119) ofthe service platform 117, and location-based gaming provider 115. By wayof example, the service platform 117, the services 119, and thelocation-based gaming provider 115 may include or otherwise supportservices (e.g., routing engines, user information, social networkinginformation, gaming information, etc.) that provide one or more locationsamples, routing information, or a combination thereof.

By way of example, the communication network 105 of system 100 includesone or more networks such as a data network, a wireless network, atelephony network, or any combination thereof. It is contemplated thatthe data network may be any local area network (LAN), metropolitan areanetwork (MAN), wide area network (WAN), a public data network (e.g., theInternet), short range wireless network (e.g., Bluetooth®, wirelessfidelity (WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access(WiMAX), near-field communication (NFC), etc.), or any other suitablepacket-switched network, such as a commercially-owned, proprietarypacket-switched network, e.g., a proprietary cable or fiber-opticnetwork, and the like, or any combination thereof. In addition, thewireless network may be, for example, a cellular network and may employvarious technologies including enhanced data rates for global evolution(EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS),universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as anyother suitable wireless medium, e.g., WiMAX, Long Term Evolution (LTE)networks, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code divisionmultiple access (WCDMA), WiFi, wireless LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth®, InternetProtocol (IP) data casting, satellite, mobile ad-hoc network (MANET),and the like, or any combination thereof.

The UE 101 is any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal, or portableterminal including a mobile handset, station, unit, device, multimediacomputer, multimedia tablet, Internet node, communicator, desktopcomputer, laptop computer, notebook computer, netbook computer, tabletcomputer, personal communication system (PCS) device, personalnavigation device, personal digital assistants (PDAs), audio/videoplayer, digital camera/camcorder, positioning device, televisionreceiver, radio broadcast receiver, electronic book device, game device,or any combination thereof, including the accessories and peripherals ofthese devices, or any combination thereof. It is also contemplated thatthe UE 101 can support any type of interface to the user (such as“wearable” circuitry, etc.).

By way of example, the UE 101, the traveled route platform 103, thelocation-based gaming provider 115, and the service platform 117communicate with each other and other components of the communicationnetwork 105 using well known, new or still developing protocols. In thiscontext, a protocol includes a set of rules defining how the networknodes within the communication network 105 interact with each otherbased on information sent over the communication links. The protocolsare effective at different layers of operation within each node, fromgenerating and receiving physical signals of various types, to selectinga link for transferring those signals, to the format of informationindicated by those signals, to identifying which software applicationexecuting on a computer system sends or receives the information. Theconceptually different layers of protocols for exchanging informationover a network are described in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)Reference Model.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may determine anarea bounded by the calculated route. Moreover, the traveled routeplatform 103 may designate the area as a conquered area associated with(a) the at least one device, (b) at least one user associated with theat least one device, or (c) a combination thereof. By way of example,the traveled route platform 103 may determine that the calculated routeforms a closed loop around an area, and designate the area as bounded bythe calculated route. The traveled route platform 103 may then, based onthe determination that the area is bounded by the calculated route,designate the area as a conquered area associated with, for example, theUE 101, a user (or subscriber) associated with UE 101, a group or teamassociated with UE 101, and the like.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may process theone or more location logs to determine at least one mode oftransportation. Moreover, the traveled route platform 103 may associatethe at least one mode of transportation with the one or more waypoints,the calculated route, the conquered area, or a combination thereof. Forexample, the traveled route platform 103 may access one or more locationlogs (e.g., location log 109), determine an average a rate of travel ofone or more location samples in the location log, and select a mode oftransportation that corresponds to the average rate of travel. Inanother example, the traveled route platform 103 determines a mode oftransportation by determining a predicted location sample for each ofone or more location samples stored in a location log (e.g., locationlog 109) for each of a plurality of modes of transportation. A level ofcertainty may then be determined for each of the plurality of modes oftransportation based on a difference between the predicted locationsamples and the one or more location samples stored in the location log.Thereafter, the traveled route platform 103 may select a mode oftransportation that corresponds to the highest level of certainty. Assuch, the traveled route platform 103 determines at least one mode oftransportation using certainty values that corresponds to the differencebetween predicted values and the one or more location samples stored inthe one or more location logs. Once the traveled route platform 103determines at least one mode of transportation, the traveled routeplatform 103 associates the at least one mode of transportation, forexample, by associating information indicating the at least one mode oftransportation with one or more waypoints, a calculated route, aconquered area, or a combination thereof.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may perform adetermination of at least one mode of transportation at least partlybased on likelihoods or probabilities for different modes oftransportation received from the UE 101. In one embodiment, the UE 101performs a classification between different modes of transportation(walking, running, driving a car, etc.) based on accelerometer datareceived from the sensor module 107. The classification between motionmodes can be performed with any known feature extraction and patternrecognition methods applied on the accelerometer signal from the sensormodule 107. In particular, in one embodiment the UE 101 performsclassification of transportation mode by extracting mel-frequencycepstral coefficient features from the magnitude of the accelerometersignal. The UE 101 may evaluate a likelihood of at least one Gaussianmixture model having generated the mel-frequency cepstral coefficientsand use this likelihood for the transportation likelihood. In this case,a Gaussian mixture model has been trained for different transportationmodes, by collecting a number of accelerometer signal samples fromdifferent transportation modes, performing mel-frequency cepstralcoefficient feature extraction for each accelerometer sample, andtraining a Gaussian mixture model to model the distribution ofmel-frequency feature vectors extracted from the samples correspondingto each transportation mode. The UE 101 may communicate one or morelikelihood values associated with one or more transportation modes tothe traveled route platform 103, and the traveled route platform 103 maymake the final determination of the transportation mode at least partlybased on the likelihood values provided by the UE 101.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may determine atleast one dominance level associated with the area based, at least inpart, on the at least one mode of transportation, wherein thedesignation of the area as the conquered area is based, at least inpart, on the at least one dominance level. In a further embodiment, thetraveled route platform 103 may determine respective one or moreweighting values for the at least one mode of transportation based, atleast in part, on an activity level associated with the at least onemode of transportation, wherein the at least one dominance level isfurther based, at least in part, on the one or more weighting values. Byway of example, a user associated with a route calculation indicating abounded area may have a dominance level associated with the bounded areaincremented by, for example, 10 points for a route calculationassociated with walking or running, 5 points for a route calculationassociated with bicycling, and 1 point for a route calculationassociated with a car or a bus. In this case, the traveled routeplatform 103 may determine a user, or group of users, with the highestnumber of points for the bounded area, and designate the bounded area asa conquered area.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may process theone or more location samples in the one or more location logs via one ormore models, one or more filters, or a combination thereof to determinethe at least one mode of transportation. In one scenario, the traveledroute platform 103 may, for instance, utilize using a Kalman filter withWiener velocity and random walk models to determine the mode oftransportation.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may determine theone or more routing engines based, at least in part, on the at least onemode of transportation. In one use case, the traveled route platform 103may select one or more routing engines that are associated with adetermined mode of transportation. As an example, a mode oftransportation associated with a car may use a routing engine associatedwith driving, such that sidewalks and bike paths may be excluded ascandidates for routes traveled.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may process oneor more results of the one or more routing engines to cause, at least inpart, a post-processing, an aggregation, or a combination thereof of theone or more results to determine the calculated route. For example, thetraveled route platform 103 may filter out route results or locationsamples that fail to form a closed loop around an area. In anotherexample, the traveled route platform 103 may aggregate results from aplurality of routing engines to determine a calculated route thatrepresents, for example, an average or median of the results from theplurality of routing engines. In yet another example, the traveled routeplatform 103 may calculate a difference between a calculated route andone or more location samples used to generate the calculated route, anddetermine to use the calculated route when the calculated difference iswithin a predefined value.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may capture atleast one of the one or more location samples. Moreover the traveledroute platform 103 may cause, at least in part, another capture of atleast another one of the one or more location samples based, at least inpart, on a distance threshold, a temporal threshold, or a combinationthereof with respect to the capture of the at least one of the one ormore location samples. By way of example, the traveled route platform103 may only store in the location logs (e.g., location log 109)location samples that exceed a time threshold (e.g., 10 seconds) and adistance threshold (e.g., 10 meters) from a previously captured locationsample.

In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 may process theone or more location logs to cause, at least in part, a filtering of theone or more location samples, wherein the one or more waypoints aredetermined based, at least in part, on the filtering. In one scenario,the traveled route platform 103 may remove location samples stored inthe location logs (e.g., location log 109) indicating a rate of travelthat exceeds a rate of travel range associated with a determined mode oftransportation. For example, a location sample indicating a rate oftravel exceeding 16 kilometers per hour for a UE 101 traveling with awalking mode of transportation may be filtered out of the location logs.

Communications between the network nodes are typically effected byexchanging discrete packets of data. Each packet typically comprises (1)header information associated with a particular protocol, and (2)payload information that follows the header information and containsinformation that may be processed independently of that particularprotocol. In some protocols, the packet includes (3) trailer informationfollowing the payload and indicating the end of the payload information.The header includes information such as the source of the packet, itsdestination, the length of the payload, and other properties used by theprotocol. Often, the data in the payload for the particular protocolincludes a header and payload for a different protocol associated with adifferent, higher layer of the OSI Reference Model. The header for aparticular protocol typically indicates a type for the next protocolcontained in its payload. The higher layer protocol is said to beencapsulated in the lower layer protocol. The headers included in apacket traversing multiple heterogeneous networks, such as the Internet,typically include a physical (layer 1) header, a data-link (layer 2)header, an internetwork (layer 3) header and a transport (layer 4)header, and various application (layer 5, layer 6 and layer 7) headersas defined by the OSI Reference Model.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the components of traveled route platform 103,according to one embodiment. By way of example, the traveled routetraveled route platform 103 includes one or more components forproviding a calculated route using waypoints associated with a traveledroute. It is contemplated that the functions of these components may becombined in one or more components or performed by other components ofequivalent functionality. In this embodiment, the traveled routeplatform 103 includes a control logic 201, an capture module 203, awaypoint module 205, a route calculation module 207, a game module 209,and a communication interface 211.

The control logic 201 oversees tasks, including tasks performed by thecapture module 203, the waypoint module 205, the route calculationmodule 207, the game module 209, and the communication interface 211.For example, although the other modules may perform the actual task, thecontrol logic 201 may determine when and how those tasks are performedor otherwise direct the other modules to perform the task.

The capture module 203 determines whether to store or capture a detectedlocation in the location log 109 or another location log, for example,stored on the traveled route platform 103 or the location-based gamingprovider 115. The capture module 203 may work with the communicationinterface 211 to determine capture setting parameters such as apredetermined distance threshold, a predetermined temporal threshold,and the like from, for instance, the user log 113, the UE 101, theservice platform 117, the gaming provider 115, and the like. Forexample, the capture module 203 may only store in location log 109location samples exceeding a time threshold (e.g., 10 seconds) and adistance threshold (e.g., 10 meters) from a previously captured locationsample. In an exemplary embodiment, the traveled route platform 103determines capture setting parameters (e.g., time and distancethresholds) and selects location samples to capture in a location log.In another embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 determines thecapture setting parameters and sends the parameters to UE 101 (e.g.,using the communication interface 211) which selects and stores locationsamples in the location log 109 based on the capture setting parameters.

The waypoint module 205 determines one or more waypoints representing atraveled route based on the location samples in a location log. Thewaypoint module 205 may work with a communication interface 211 todetermine a mode of transportation associated with the location samplesdetermined by UE 101 by, for example, detecting a motion associated withUE 101 (e.g., accelerometer, location detection, etc.) or by detectingan input by a user indicating a mode of transportation. In oneembodiment, the waypoint module 205 determines waypoints by filteringthe one or more location samples stored in a location log. For example,waypoint module 205 may remove location samples stored in location log109 indicating a rate of travel that exceeds a rate of travel rangeassociated with the determined mode of transportation. In one scenario,for instance, a location sample indicating a rate of travel exceeding 16kilometers per hour (10 miles per hour) for a UE 101 traveling with awalking mode of transportation may not be added as a waypoint. Inanother example, the waypoint module 205 performs a filtering of thelocation samples in a location log using a Kalman filter with, forinstance, a Wiener velocity model, a random walk model, or a combinationthereof. That is, the waypoint module 205 may perform the filteringprocess by detecting a mode of transportation, and selecting waypointsbased on a detected location sample stored in the location log 109. Inthis manner, waypoints may indicate a different traveled route (and/ordifferent locations) than the one or more location samples stored in alocation log because the waypoints may, for example, represent alocation between a predicted and sampled location stored in a locationlog. It is contemplated that a certainty value may be determined for apredicted waypoint, and that waypoints stored in the waypoint log 111may be closer to predicted values when the certainty value is higher.Additionally, and/or alternatively, a model for predicting motion may beselected based on a mode of transportation. That is, a random walk modelmay be used to calculate a predicted waypoint for a walking mode oftransportation, and a Wiener velocity model may be used to determine apredicted waypoint for a car mode of transportation.

Once waypoints have been determined by the waypoint module 205, theroute calculation module 207 may process the waypoints and determine acalculated route representing a route traveled by the UE 101. In oneembodiment, the route calculation module 207 determines whetherwaypoints are within a predefined distance from routes (e.g., roads orpaths) associated with one or more routing engines to determine whetheror not to process the waypoints via one or more routing engines. Forexample, the route calculation module 207 may only process waypointsand/or one or more location samples that are within a predefineddistance to routes associated with one or more routing engines. That is,waypoints and/or one or more location samples indicating a proximity toan area with no mapped roads or paths (e.g., a wilderness, park, etc.)may be used by the traveled route platform 103 to represent a routetraveled. In another embodiment, the route calculation module 207selects a routing engine based on a mode of transportation. For example,a waypoint indicating a mode of transportation may be processed by arouting engine associated with the mode of transportation. That is, awaypoint indicating a mode of transportation associated with a car woulduse a routing engine associated with driving, such that sidewalks andbike paths may be excluded as candidates for routes traveled.Additionally, or alternatively, the routing engine may incorporatecertainty levels derived in filtering the location samples to create thewaypoints by, for example, selecting routes closer to waypointsassociated with a higher certainty than waypoints associated with alower certainty. In this manner, the route calculation module 207 mayselect routes associated with a higher certainty of accuracy. In oneembodiment, the route calculation module 207 processes the one or moreresults of the one or more routing engines to cause, at least in part, apost-processing, an aggregation, or a combination thereof of the one ormore results to determine the calculated route. For example, the routecalculation module 207 may calculate a difference between a calculatedroute and one or more location samples used to generate the calculatedroute, and determine to use the calculated route when the calculateddifference is within a predefined value. That is, if the calculatedroute exceeds, for example, a predefined distance value from detectedlocation samples, the route calculation module 207 may use the locationsamples to represent a route traveled.

The game module 209 may work with the route calculation module 207 todetermine gaming information. In one embodiment, the game module 209determines an area bounded by a calculated route determined by the routecalculation module 207. The game module 209 may, for instance, determinethat the calculated route determined by route calculation module 207forms a closed loop around an area, and designate the area as bounded bythe calculated route. Additionally, or alternatively, the game module209 may determine a dominance level associated with the area based on amode of transportation. By way of example, a user associated with theroute calculation indicating a bounded area may have a dominance levelassociated with the bounded area incremented by, for example, 10 pointsfor a route calculation associated with walking or running, 5 points fora route calculation associated with bicycling, and 1 point for a routecalculation associated with a car or a bus. It is contemplated thatpoints may be accumulated for a UE 101, a user associated with UE 101,multiple users associated with UE 101, or a team associated with UE 101.For example, a user (or subscriber) of the traveled route platform 103may have a user account to associate accumulated points with the user,other users, and/or a team of users. In one embodiment, the game module209 determines a user, or group of users with a highest number of pointsfor a bounded area, and designates the user, or group of users as anowner of the bounded area. It is contemplated that owners of a boundedarea may be indicated on a map and have additional options not availableto other users such as, for example, a display of a name, slogan,review, color, flag, and the like.

The communication interface 211 manages and controls any incoming andoutgoing communication such as an indication of a user selection, ageographical location, a status of user equipment, and the like. Thecommunication interface 211 can also manage other communications of theUE 101 such as Internet communications. For example, as discussed above,the traveled route platform 103 may retrieve one or more locationsamples stored in the location log 109 from the UE 101.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for providing a calculated routeusing waypoints associated with a traveled route, according to oneembodiment. In one embodiment, the traveled route platform 103 performsthe process 300 and is implemented in, for instance, a chip setincluding a processor and a memory as shown in FIG. 8. In step 301, thetraveled route platform 103 processes one or more location logs todetermine one or more waypoints, wherein the one or more location logsinclude, at least in part, one or more location samples for at least onedevice on a traveled route. In one scenario, the waypoint module 205 maydetermine waypoints based on a subset of location samples that have notbeen filtered out of an initial set of location samples. Additionally,or alternatively, the waypoint module 205 may determine the waypointsbased on a subset of predicted locations (e.g., using a Kalman filter)associated with the location samples in the location logs.

Next, in step 303, the traveled route platform 103 processes the one ormore waypoints via one or more routing engines to determine a calculatedroute as a representation of the traveled route. By way of example, theroute calculation module 207 may select one or more route segments thatcorrespond to travel between the one or more waypoints, and then combinethe route segments and the waypoints to form the calculated traveledroute.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for designating an area as aconquered area, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, thetraveled route platform 103 performs the process 400 and is implementedin, for instance, a chip set including a processor and a memory as shownin FIG. 8. In step 401, the capture module 203 selects one or morelocation samples for at least one device. For example, the UE 101 may,using a GPS location detection, determine a location, and the capturemodule 203 selects (and stores) a sample of location samples that bothexceed a minimum temporal threshold and a minimum distance threshold.Additionally, the capture module 203 may include with the locationssamples acceleration information obtained using the sensor module 107 onthe at least one device.

Next, at step 403, the traveled route platform 103 determines a mode oftransportation associated with the location samples. In one embodiment,the UE 101 determines a mode of transportation via, for example, a userinput, or location detection technology (e.g., accelerometer, GPS,etc.). In another embodiment, the waypoint module 205 determines a modeof transportation when processing the one or more location samplesstored in location log 109. For example, the waypoint module 205 maydetermine an average rate of motion for the one or more location samplesstored in location log 109 and select a mode of transportation thatcorresponds to the determined average rate of motion. In anotherexample, waypoint module 205 determines a predicted location for each ofthe one or more samples stored in location log 109 for each of aplurality of modes of transportation, determines a certainty level foreach of the plurality of modes of transportation based on a comparisonof the predicted location and the one or more samples, and selects themode of transportations corresponding to the highest certainty level.

Once the mode of transportation is determined, one or more waypoints aredetermined, as in step 405, by processing one or more location logs. Forexample, the waypoints may a include a selection of the location samplesselected by one or more filters, or may be calculated or predictedvalues determined by one or more filters (e.g., Kalman filter) based onthe location samples of one or more location logs (e.g., location log109). The waypoints are then used to determine, as in step 407, acalculated route. In one exemplary embodiment, the calculated route isselected based on a mode of transportation. Additionally, oralternatively, one or more routing engines may be selected to determinea calculated route as a representation of a traveled route based on theone or more waypoints. For example, a routing engine associated withtraveled route platform 103 may be utilized, or another routing engineassociated with the service platform 117 or the location-based gamingprovider 115, may be utilized to determine the calculated route.

Once the calculated route is determined, the game module 209 determines,as in step 409, an area bounded by the calculated route. For example, acalculated route may surround multiple buildings, and each of thesurrounded buildings is considered bounded by the calculated route. Oncethe area bounded is determined, the game module 209 designates, as instep 411, the area as a conquered area. Each area within the areabounded may, for instance, be designated as conquered by the UE 101, auser associated with the UE 101, or a group (or team) of usersassociated with UE 101. In another example, the game module 209determines a dominance level associated with the area bounded for the UE101 (or at least one user associated with UE 101). It is contemplatedthat the dominance level may be based on at least one mode oftransportation and may include a previous dominance level from at leastone other calculated route associated with the UE (or at least one userassociated with UE 101). In this manner, users (or subscribers) oftraveled route platform 103 may be challenged to accumulate a level ofdominance, for example, to obtain a designation as owner of an area.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are ladder diagrams of a process for providing acalculated route using waypoints associated with a traveled route,according to one embodiment. As depicted, the diagram 500 includes auser interface 501, a GPS recorder 503 (e.g., sensor module 107), a GPSsystem 505, the UE 101 (shown in FIG. 5B), and the traveled routeplatform 103 (shown in FIG. 5B).

In this example, user interface 501 initiates, as in step 511, a requestto start recording of the location of UE 101. The GPS recorder 503 thenrequests, as in step 513, an update of the position of UE 101 from theGPS system 505. The GPS system 505 then sends, as in step 515, aposition update to the GPS recorder 503. The GPS recorder 503 records,as in step 517, the update. In one embodiment, the GPS recorder recordsevery update received from the GPS system 505. In another embodiment,the GPS recorder records or captures at least one of the one or morelocation samples and captures or records at least another one of the oneor more location samples based, at least in part, on a distancethreshold, a temporal threshold, or a combination thereof. Steps 513,515, and 517 repeat until the user interface 501 detects a user inputindicating, as in step 519, a request to stop recording the position ofUE 101. The GPS recorder 503 then sends, as in step 521, a request toGPS system 505 to stop sending updates.

Turning to FIG. 5B, the UE 101 prepares, as in step 523, data. In oneembodiment, location data is processed by UE 101 to be stored in one ormore location logs (e.g., location log 109). In another embodiment, theUE 101 (or the traveled route platform 103) processes one or morelocation logs to determine one or more waypoints, wherein the one ormore location logs include, at least in part, one or more locationsamples for at least one device on a traveled route. In yet anotherembodiment, the UE 101 (or the traveled route platform 103) may processthe one or more location logs to cause, at least in part, a filtering ofthe one or more location samples, wherein the one or more waypoints aredetermined based, at least in part, on the filtering. By way of example,one or more location samples may be filtered, further sampled, orprocessed by UE 101 to, for example, reduce detection errors. That is,the waypoint module 205 may be located on the UE 101 and may process theone or more location sample in location log 109, for example, using aKalman filter with Wiener velocity and random walk models.

Once the waypoints are prepared in step 523, the UE 101 sends, as instep 525, the waypoints to the traveled route platform 103. In oneembodiment, the traveled route platform 103 processes the one or morewaypoints via one or more routing engines to determine a calculatedroute as a representation of the traveled route. Next, the UE 101receives, as in step 527, the calculated route from traveled routeplatform 103. In one embodiment, the UE 101 (or the traveled routeplatform 103) processes the one or more results of the one or morerouting engines to cause, at least in part, a post-processing, anaggregation, or a combination thereof of the one or more results todetermine the calculated route. It is contemplated that the traveledroute platform 103 may also send the calculated route to, for example,gaming provider 115. Once received, the user interface may draw, as instep 529, the calculated route on a screen located on UE 101.

FIGS. 6A-6C are diagrams of user interfaces utilized in the processes ofFIG. 3, according to various embodiments. FIG. 6A illustrates a mobiledevice 601 (e.g., UE 101) displaying a graphical user interface (GUI)603. GUI 603 displays a map that includes one or more indicators 605representing a sample stored in one or more logs (e.g., location log109) and a representation 607 of a detected route traveled by mobiledevice 601. In one embodiment, the one or more indicators 605 representa capture of at least one of the one or more location samples, andanother capture of at least another one of the one or more locationsamples based, at least in part, on a distance threshold, a temporalthreshold, or a combination thereof with respect to the capture of theat least one of the one or more location samples. In another embodiment,the one or more indicators 605 represent one or more waypoints of aprocessing of the one or more location logs to cause, at least in part,a filtering of the one or more location samples (e.g., samplesillustrated in representation 607), wherein the one or more waypointsare determined based, at least in part, on the filtering.

FIG. 6B illustrates the mobile device 601 (e.g., UE 101) displaying theGUI 603 with a map that includes the representation 607 of a detectedroute traveled by mobile device 601 and a representation 609 of acalculated route determined using one or more routing engines. In oneembodiment, the representation 609 is a representation of a traveledroute from a processing of the one or more waypoints (e.g., the one ormore indicators 605) via one or more routing engines to determine acalculated route as a representation of the traveled route.

FIG. 6C illustrates the mobile device 601 (e.g., UE 101) displaying theGUI 603 with a map that includes a first conquered area 611 and a secondconquered area 613. In one embodiment, the traveled route platform 103,determines an area bounded by the calculated route and designates thearea as a conquered area associated with (a) the at least one device,(b) at least one user associated with the at least one device, or (c) acombination thereof. For example, the traveled route platform 103 (orgaming provider 115) may designate the first conquered area 611 asconquered by a plurality of users associated with team 3 and designatethe second conquered area 613 as conquered by a user. As illustrated inthe exemplary embodiment, the first conquered area 611 includes an ownerindicator 615 (e.g., a team name), a team slogan indicator 617, and adominance level indicator 619 for the owner that corresponds to thefirst conquered area 611. In one embodiment, the traveled route platform103 (or gaming provider 115) determines at least one dominance levelassociated with the area based, at least in part, on the at least onemode of transportation, wherein the designation of the area as theconquered area is based, at least in part, on the at least one dominancelevel. That is, the traveled route platform 103 may determine thedominance level 619 of the first conquered area 611 based on a mode oftransportation used by one or more UE 101 associated with at least oneowner indicated by the owner indicator 615. As illustrated in theexemplary embodiment, the second conquered area includes a commentindicator 621 relating to the area, an owner indicator 623 (e.g., auser), a shortfall indicator 625 in a dominance level or difference inpoints a user associated with mobile device 601 has compared to theowner of the conquered area, and a chart 627 indicating a point valuefor various modes of transportation. In one embodiment, the traveledroute platform 103 (or gaming provider 115) determines respective one ormore weighting values for the at least one mode of transportation based,at least in part, on an activity level associated with the at least onemode of transportation, wherein the at least one dominance level isfurther based, at least in part, on the one or more weighting values. Byway of example, chart 627 may illustrate weighting values of: 10 pointsfor a route calculation associated with walking or running, 5 points fora route calculation associated with bicycling, and 1 point for a routecalculation associated with a car or a bus and the dominance level(e.g., shortfall indicator 625) is adjusted based on the weightingvalues.

The processes described herein for providing a calculated route usingwaypoints associated with a traveled route may be advantageouslyimplemented via software, hardware, firmware or a combination ofsoftware and/or firmware and/or hardware. For example, the processesdescribed herein, may be advantageously implemented via processor(s),Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc. Suchexemplary hardware for performing the described functions is detailedbelow.

FIG. 7 illustrates a computer system 700 upon which an embodiment of theinvention may be implemented. Although computer system 700 is depictedwith respect to a particular device or equipment, it is contemplatedthat other devices or equipment (e.g., network elements, servers, etc.)within FIG. 7 can deploy the illustrated hardware and components ofsystem 700. Computer system 700 is programmed (e.g., via computerprogram code or instructions) to provide a calculated route usingwaypoints associated with a traveled route as described herein andincludes a communication mechanism such as a bus 710 for passinginformation between other internal and external components of thecomputer system 700. Information (also called data) is represented as aphysical expression of a measurable phenomenon, typically electricvoltages, but including, in other embodiments, such phenomena asmagnetic, electromagnetic, pressure, chemical, biological, molecular,atomic, sub-atomic and quantum interactions. For example, north andsouth magnetic fields, or a zero and non-zero electric voltage,represent two states (0, 1) of a binary digit (bit). Other phenomena canrepresent digits of a higher base. A superposition of multiplesimultaneous quantum states before measurement represents a quantum bit(qubit). A sequence of one or more digits constitutes digital data thatis used to represent a number or code for a character. In someembodiments, information called analog data is represented by a nearcontinuum of measurable values within a particular range. Computersystem 700, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing oneor more steps of providing a calculated route using waypoints associatedwith a traveled route.

A bus 710 includes one or more parallel conductors of information sothat information is transferred quickly among devices coupled to the bus710. One or more processors 702 for processing information are coupledwith the bus 710.

A processor (or multiple processors) 702 performs a set of operations oninformation as specified by computer program code related to providing acalculated route using waypoints associated with a traveled route. Thecomputer program code is a set of instructions or statements providinginstructions for the operation of the processor and/or the computersystem to perform specified functions. The code, for example, may bewritten in a computer programming language that is compiled into anative instruction set of the processor. The code may also be writtendirectly using the native instruction set (e.g., machine language). Theset of operations include bringing information in from the bus 710 andplacing information on the bus 710. The set of operations also typicallyinclude comparing two or more units of information, shifting positionsof units of information, and combining two or more units of information,such as by addition or multiplication or logical operations like OR,exclusive OR (XOR), and AND. Each operation of the set of operationsthat can be performed by the processor is represented to the processorby information called instructions, such as an operation code of one ormore digits. A sequence of operations to be executed by the processor702, such as a sequence of operation codes, constitute processorinstructions, also called computer system instructions or, simply,computer instructions. Processors may be implemented as mechanical,electrical, magnetic, optical, chemical, or quantum components, amongothers, alone or in combination.

Computer system 700 also includes a memory 704 coupled to bus 710. Thememory 704, such as a random access memory (RAM) or any other dynamicstorage device, stores information including processor instructions forproviding a calculated route using waypoints associated with a traveledroute. Dynamic memory allows information stored therein to be changed bythe computer system 700. RAM allows a unit of information stored at alocation called a memory address to be stored and retrievedindependently of information at neighboring addresses. The memory 704 isalso used by the processor 702 to store temporary values duringexecution of processor instructions. The computer system 700 alsoincludes a read only memory (ROM) 706 or any other static storage devicecoupled to the bus 710 for storing static information, includinginstructions, that is not changed by the computer system 700. Somememory is composed of volatile storage that loses the information storedthereon when power is lost. Also coupled to bus 710 is a non-volatile(persistent) storage device 708, such as a magnetic disk, optical diskor flash card, for storing information, including instructions, thatpersists even when the computer system 700 is turned off or otherwiseloses power.

Information, including instructions for providing a calculated routeusing waypoints associated with a traveled route, is provided to the bus710 for use by the processor from an external input device 712, such asa keyboard containing alphanumeric keys operated by a human user, amicrophone, an Infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick, a game pad, astylus pen, a touch screen, or a sensor. A sensor detects conditions inits vicinity and transforms those detections into physical expressioncompatible with the measurable phenomenon used to represent informationin computer system 700. Other external devices coupled to bus 710, usedprimarily for interacting with humans, include a display device 714,such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), alight emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, aplasma screen, or a printer for presenting text or images, and apointing device 716, such as a mouse, a trackball, cursor directionkeys, or a motion sensor, for controlling a position of a small cursorimage presented on the display 714 and issuing commands associated withgraphical elements presented on the display 714. In some embodiments,for example, in embodiments in which the computer system 700 performsall functions automatically without human input, one or more of externalinput device 712, display device 714 and pointing device 716 is omitted.

In the illustrated embodiment, special purpose hardware, such as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 720, is coupled to bus710. The special purpose hardware is configured to perform operationsnot performed by processor 702 quickly enough for special purposes.Examples of ASICs include graphics accelerator cards for generatingimages for display 714, cryptographic boards for encrypting anddecrypting messages sent over a network, speech recognition, andinterfaces to special external devices, such as robotic arms and medicalscanning equipment that repeatedly perform some complex sequence ofoperations that are more efficiently implemented in hardware.

Computer system 700 also includes one or more instances of acommunications interface 770 coupled to bus 710. Communication interface770 provides a one-way or two-way communication coupling to a variety ofexternal devices that operate with their own processors, such asprinters, scanners and external disks. In general the coupling is with anetwork link 778 that is connected to a local network 780 to which avariety of external devices with their own processors are connected. Forexample, communication interface 770 may be a parallel port or a serialport or a universal serial bus (USB) port on a personal computer. Insome embodiments, communications interface 770 is an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) card or a digital subscriber line (DSL) card or atelephone modem that provides an information communication connection toa corresponding type of telephone line. In some embodiments, acommunication interface 770 is a cable modem that converts signals onbus 710 into signals for a communication connection over a coaxial cableor into optical signals for a communication connection over a fiberoptic cable. As another example, communications interface 770 may be alocal area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connectionto a compatible LAN, such as Ethernet. Wireless links may also beimplemented. For wireless links, the communications interface 770 sendsor receives or both sends and receives electrical, acoustic orelectromagnetic signals, including infrared and optical signals, thatcarry information streams, such as digital data. For example, inwireless handheld devices, such as mobile telephones like cell phones,the communications interface 770 includes a radio band electromagnetictransmitter and receiver called a radio transceiver. In certainembodiments, the communications interface 770 enables connection to thecommunication network 105 for providing a calculated route usingwaypoints associated with a traveled route to the UE 101.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing information to processor 702, includinginstructions for execution. Such a medium may take many forms,including, but not limited to computer-readable storage medium (e.g.,non-volatile media, volatile media), and transmission media.Non-transitory media, such as non-volatile media, include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 708. Volatile mediainclude, for example, dynamic memory 704. Transmission media include,for example, twisted pair cables, coaxial cables, copper wire, fiberoptic cables, and carrier waves that travel through space without wiresor cables, such as acoustic waves and electromagnetic waves, includingradio, optical and infrared waves. Signals include man-made transientvariations in amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization or otherphysical properties transmitted through the transmission media. Commonforms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, aflexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, aCD-ROM, CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape,optical mark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes orother optically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, an EEPROM, a flash memory, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer canread. The term computer-readable storage medium is used herein to referto any computer-readable medium except transmission media.

Logic encoded in one or more tangible media includes one or both ofprocessor instructions on a computer-readable storage media and specialpurpose hardware, such as ASIC 720.

Network link 778 typically provides information communication usingtransmission media through one or more networks to other devices thatuse or process the information. For example, network link 778 mayprovide a connection through local network 780 to a host computer 782 orto equipment 784 operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISPequipment 784 in turn provides data communication services through thepublic, world-wide packet-switching communication network of networksnow commonly referred to as the Internet 790.

A computer called a server host 792 connected to the Internet hosts aprocess that provides a service in response to information received overthe Internet. For example, server host 792 hosts a process that providesinformation representing video data for presentation at display 714. Itis contemplated that the components of system 700 can be deployed invarious configurations within other computer systems, e.g., host 782 andserver 792.

At least some embodiments of the invention are related to the use ofcomputer system 700 for implementing some or all of the techniquesdescribed herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, thosetechniques are performed by computer system 700 in response to processor702 executing one or more sequences of one or more processorinstructions contained in memory 704. Such instructions, also calledcomputer instructions, software and program code, may be read intomemory 704 from another computer-readable medium such as storage device708 or network link 778. Execution of the sequences of instructionscontained in memory 704 causes processor 702 to perform one or more ofthe method steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hardware,such as ASIC 720, may be used in place of or in combination withsoftware to implement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the inventionare not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software,unless otherwise explicitly stated herein.

The signals transmitted over network link 778 and other networks throughcommunications interface 770, carry information to and from computersystem 700. Computer system 700 can send and receive information,including program code, through the networks 780, 790 among others,through network link 778 and communications interface 770. In an exampleusing the Internet 790, a server host 792 transmits program code for aparticular application, requested by a message sent from computer 700,through Internet 790, ISP equipment 784, local network 780 andcommunications interface 770. The received code may be executed byprocessor 702 as it is received, or may be stored in memory 704 or instorage device 708 or any other non-volatile storage for laterexecution, or both. In this manner, computer system 700 may obtainapplication program code in the form of signals on a carrier wave.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequence of instructions or data or both to processor 702 forexecution. For example, instructions and data may initially be carriedon a magnetic disk of a remote computer such as host 782. The remotecomputer loads the instructions and data into its dynamic memory andsends the instructions and data over a telephone line using a modem. Amodem local to the computer system 700 receives the instructions anddata on a telephone line and uses an infra-red transmitter to convertthe instructions and data to a signal on an infra-red carrier waveserving as the network link 778. An infrared detector serving ascommunications interface 770 receives the instructions and data carriedin the infrared signal and places information representing theinstructions and data onto bus 710. Bus 710 carries the information tomemory 704 from which processor 702 retrieves and executes theinstructions using some of the data sent with the instructions. Theinstructions and data received in memory 704 may optionally be stored onstorage device 708, either before or after execution by the processor702.

FIG. 8 illustrates a chip set or chip 800 upon which an embodiment ofthe invention may be implemented. Chip set 800 is programmed toproviding a calculated route using waypoints associated with a traveledroute as described herein and includes, for instance, the processor andmemory components described with respect to FIG. 7 incorporated in oneor more physical packages (e.g., chips). By way of example, a physicalpackage includes an arrangement of one or more materials, components,and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a baseboard) to provide oneor more characteristics such as physical strength, conservation of size,and/or limitation of electrical interaction. It is contemplated that incertain embodiments the chip set 800 can be implemented in a singlechip. It is further contemplated that in certain embodiments the chipset or chip 800 can be implemented as a single “system on a chip.” It isfurther contemplated that in certain embodiments a separate ASIC wouldnot be used, for example, and that all relevant functions as disclosedherein would be performed by a processor or processors. Chip set or chip800, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing one ormore steps of providing user interface navigation information associatedwith the availability of functions. Chip set or chip 800, or a portionthereof, constitutes a means for performing one or more steps ofproviding a calculated route using waypoints associated with a traveledroute.

In one embodiment, the chip set or chip 800 includes a communicationmechanism such as a bus 801 for passing information among the componentsof the chip set 800. A processor 803 has connectivity to the bus 801 toexecute instructions and process information stored in, for example, amemory 805. The processor 803 may include one or more processing coreswith each core configured to perform independently. A multi-coreprocessor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package.Examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greaternumbers of processing cores. Alternatively or in addition, the processor803 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via thebus 801 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, andmultithreading. The processor 803 may also be accompanied with one ormore specialized components to perform certain processing functions andtasks such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP) 807, or one ormore application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) 809. A DSP 807typically is configured to process real-world signals (e.g., sound) inreal time independently of the processor 803. Similarly, an ASIC 809 canbe configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed bya more general purpose processor. Other specialized components to aid inperforming the inventive functions described herein may include one ormore field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), one or more controllers, orone or more other special-purpose computer chips.

In one embodiment, the chip set or chip 800 includes merely one or moreprocessors and some software and/or firmware supporting and/or relatingto and/or for the one or more processors.

The processor 803 and accompanying components have connectivity to thememory 805 via the bus 801. The memory 805 includes both dynamic memory(e.g., RAM, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and staticmemory (e.g., ROM, CD-ROM, etc.) for storing executable instructionsthat when executed perform the inventive steps described herein toprovide a calculated route using waypoints associated with a traveledroute. The memory 805 also stores the data associated with or generatedby the execution of the inventive steps.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of exemplary components of a mobile terminal (e.g.,handset) for communications, which is capable of operating in the systemof FIG. 1, according to one embodiment. In some embodiments, mobileterminal 901, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performingone or more steps of providing a calculated route using waypointsassociated with a traveled route. Generally, a radio receiver is oftendefined in terms of front-end and back-end characteristics. Thefront-end of the receiver encompasses all of the Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry whereas the back-end encompasses all of the base-bandprocessing circuitry. As used in this application, the term “circuitry”refers to both: (1) hardware-only implementations (such asimplementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry), and (2) tocombinations of circuitry and software (and/or firmware) (such as, ifapplicable to the particular context, to a combination of processor(s),including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) thatwork together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server,to perform various functions). This definition of “circuitry” applies toall uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As afurther example, as used in this application and if applicable to theparticular context, the term “circuitry” would also cover animplementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) and its(or their) accompanying software/or firmware. The term “circuitry” wouldalso cover if applicable to the particular context, for example, abaseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuitin a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a cellular networkdevice or other network devices.

Pertinent internal components of the telephone include a Main ControlUnit (MCU) 903, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 905, and areceiver/transmitter unit including a microphone gain control unit and aspeaker gain control unit. A main display unit 907 provides a display tothe user in support of various applications and mobile terminalfunctions that perform or support the steps of providing a calculatedroute using waypoints associated with a traveled route. The display 907includes display circuitry configured to display at least a portion of auser interface of the mobile terminal (e.g., mobile telephone).Additionally, the display 907 and display circuitry are configured tofacilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobileterminal. An audio function circuitry 909 includes a microphone 911 andmicrophone amplifier that amplifies the speech signal output from themicrophone 911. The amplified speech signal output from the microphone911 is fed to a coder/decoder (CODEC) 913.

A radio section 915 amplifies power and converts frequency in order tocommunicate with a base station, which is included in a mobilecommunication system, via antenna 917. The power amplifier (PA) 919 andthe transmitter/modulation circuitry are operationally responsive to theMCU 903, with an output from the PA 919 coupled to the duplexer 921 orcirculator or antenna switch, as known in the art. The PA 919 alsocouples to a battery interface and power control unit 920.

In use, a user of mobile terminal 901 speaks into the microphone 911 andhis or her voice along with any detected background noise is convertedinto an analog voltage. The analog voltage is then converted into adigital signal through the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) 923. Thecontrol unit 903 routes the digital signal into the DSP 905 forprocessing therein, such as speech encoding, channel encoding,encrypting, and interleaving. In one embodiment, the processed voicesignals are encoded, by units not separately shown, using a cellulartransmission protocol such as enhanced data rates for global evolution(EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS),universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as anyother suitable wireless medium, e.g., microwave access (WiMAX), LongTerm Evolution (LTE) networks, code division multiple access (CDMA),wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless fidelity(WiFi), satellite, and the like, or any combination thereof.

The encoded signals are then routed to an equalizer 925 for compensationof any frequency-dependent impairments that occur during transmissionthough the air such as phase and amplitude distortion. After equalizingthe bit stream, the modulator 927 combines the signal with a RF signalgenerated in the RF interface 929. The modulator 927 generates a sinewave by way of frequency or phase modulation. In order to prepare thesignal for transmission, an up-converter 931 combines the sine waveoutput from the modulator 927 with another sine wave generated by asynthesizer 933 to achieve the desired frequency of transmission. Thesignal is then sent through a PA 919 to increase the signal to anappropriate power level. In practical systems, the PA 919 acts as avariable gain amplifier whose gain is controlled by the DSP 905 frominformation received from a network base station. The signal is thenfiltered within the duplexer 921 and optionally sent to an antennacoupler 935 to match impedances to provide maximum power transfer.Finally, the signal is transmitted via antenna 917 to a local basestation. An automatic gain control (AGC) can be supplied to control thegain of the final stages of the receiver. The signals may be forwardedfrom there to a remote telephone which may be another cellulartelephone, any other mobile phone or a land-line connected to a PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), or other telephony networks.

Voice signals transmitted to the mobile terminal 901 are received viaantenna 917 and immediately amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA)937. A down-converter 939 lowers the carrier frequency while thedemodulator 941 strips away the RF leaving only a digital bit stream.The signal then goes through the equalizer 925 and is processed by theDSP 905. A Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) 943 converts the signal andthe resulting output is transmitted to the user through the speaker 945,all under control of a Main Control Unit (MCU) 903 which can beimplemented as a Central Processing Unit (CPU).

The MCU 903 receives various signals including input signals from thekeyboard 947. The keyboard 947 and/or the MCU 903 in combination withother user input components (e.g., the microphone 911) comprise a userinterface circuitry for managing user input. The MCU 903 runs a userinterface software to facilitate user control of at least some functionsof the mobile terminal 901 to provide a calculated route using waypointsassociated with a traveled route. The MCU 903 also delivers a displaycommand and a switch command to the display 907 and to the speech outputswitching controller, respectively. Further, the MCU 903 exchangesinformation with the DSP 905 and can access an optionally incorporatedSIM card 949 and a memory 951. In addition, the MCU 903 executes variouscontrol functions required of the terminal. The DSP 905 may, dependingupon the implementation, perform any of a variety of conventionaldigital processing functions on the voice signals. Additionally, DSP 905determines the background noise level of the local environment from thesignals detected by microphone 911 and sets the gain of microphone 911to a level selected to compensate for the natural tendency of the userof the mobile terminal 901.

The CODEC 913 includes the ADC 923 and DAC 943. The memory 951 storesvarious data including call incoming tone data and is capable of storingother data including music data received via, e.g., the global Internet.The software module could reside in RAM memory, flash memory, registers,or any other form of writable storage medium known in the art. Thememory device 951 may be, but not limited to, a single memory, CD, DVD,ROM, RAM, EEPROM, optical storage, magnetic disk storage, flash memorystorage, or any other non-volatile storage medium capable of storingdigital data.

An optionally incorporated SIM card 949 carries, for instance, importantinformation, such as the cellular phone number, the carrier supplyingservice, subscription details, and security information. The SIM card949 serves primarily to identify the mobile terminal 901 on a radionetwork. The card 949 also contains a memory for storing a personaltelephone number registry, text messages, and user specific mobileterminal settings.

While the invention has been described in connection with a number ofembodiments and implementations, the invention is not so limited butcovers various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements, whichfall within the purview of the appended claims. Although features of theinvention are expressed in certain combinations among the claims, it iscontemplated that these features can be arranged in any combination andorder.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising facilitating a processing ofand/or processing (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at leastone signal, the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least onesignal based, at least in part, on the following: a processing of one ormore location logs to determine one or more waypoints, wherein the oneor more location logs include, at least in part, one or more locationsamples for at least one device on a traveled route; and a processing ofthe one or more waypoints via one or more routing engines to determine acalculated route as a representation of the traveled route.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or(3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on thefollowing: at least one determination of an area bounded by thecalculated route; and a designation of the area as a conquered areaassociated with (a) the at least one device, (b) at least one userassociated with the at least one device, or (c) a combination thereof.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the (1) data and/or (2) informationand/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, onthe following: a processing of the one or more location logs todetermine at least one mode of transportation; and an association of theat least one mode of transportation with the one or more waypoints, thecalculated route, the conquered area, or a combination thereof.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or(3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on thefollowing: at least one determination of at least one dominance levelassociated with the area based, at least in part, on the at least onemode of transportation, wherein the designation of the area as theconquered area is based, at least in part, on the at least one dominancelevel.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the (1) data and/or (2)information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at leastin part, on the following: at least one determination of respective oneor more weighting values for the at least one mode of transportationbased, at least in part, on an activity level associated with the atleast one mode of transportation, wherein the at least one dominancelevel is further based, at least in part, on the one or more weightingvalues.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the (1) data and/or (2)information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at leastin part, on the following: a processing of the one or more locationsamples in the one or more location logs via one or more models, one ormore filters, or a combination thereof to determine the at least onemode of transportation.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the (1) dataand/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based,at least in part, on the following: at least one determination of theone or more routing engines based, at least in part, on the at least onemode of transportation.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the (1) dataand/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based,at least in part, on the following: a processing of one or more resultsof the one or more routing engines to cause, at least in part, apost-processing, an aggregation, or a combination thereof of the one ormore results to determine the calculated route.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least onesignal are further based, at least in part, on the following: a captureof at least one of the one or more location samples, wherein the one ormore location samples include acceleration information relating to theat least one device; another capture of at least another one of the oneor more location samples based, at least in part, on a distancethreshold, a temporal threshold, or a combination thereof with respectto the capture of the at least one of the one or more location samples;and a processing of the one or more location logs to determine at leastone mode of transportation based, at least in part, on the accelerationinformation.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the (1) data and/or (2)information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at leastin part, on the following: a processing of the one or more location logsto cause, at least in part, a filtering of the one or more locationsamples, wherein the one or more waypoints are determined based, atleast in part, on the filtering.
 11. An apparatus comprising: at leastone processor; and at least one memory including computer program codefor one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computerprogram code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause theapparatus to perform at least the following, process and/or facilitate aprocessing of one or more location logs to determine one or morewaypoints, wherein the one or more location logs include, at least inpart, one or more location samples for at least one device on a traveledroute; and process and/or facilitate a processing of the one or morewaypoints via one or more routing engines to determine a calculatedroute as a representation of the traveled route.
 12. An apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: determine an areabounded by the calculated route; and cause, at least in part, adesignation of the area as a conquered area associated with (a) the atleast one device, (b) at least one user associated with the at least onedevice, or (c) a combination thereof.
 13. An apparatus of claim 12,wherein the apparatus is further caused to: process and/or facilitate aprocessing of the one or more location logs to determine at least onemode of transportation; and cause, at least in part, an association ofthe at least one mode of transportation with the one or more waypoints,the calculated route, the conquered area, or a combination thereof. 14.An apparatus of claim 13, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:determine at least one dominance level associated with the area based,at least in part, on the at least one mode of transportation, whereinthe designation of the area as the conquered area is based, at least inpart, on the at least one dominance level.
 15. An apparatus of claim 14,wherein the apparatus is further caused to: determine respective one ormore weighting values for the at least one mode of transportation based,at least in part, on an activity level associated with the at least onemode of transportation, wherein the at least one dominance level isfurther based, at least in part, on the one or more weighting values.16. An apparatus of claim 13, wherein the apparatus is further causedto: process and/or facilitate a processing of the one or more locationsamples in the one or more location logs via one or more models, one ormore filters, or a combination thereof to determine the at least onemode of transportation.
 17. An apparatus of claim 13, wherein theapparatus is further caused to: determine the one or more routingengines based, at least in part, on the at least one mode oftransportation.
 18. An apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus isfurther caused to: process and/or facilitate a processing of one or moreresults of the one or more routing engines to cause, at least in part, apost-processing, an aggregation, or a combination thereof of the one ormore results to determine the calculated route.
 19. An apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: cause, at least inpart, a capture of at least one of the one or more location samples,wherein the one or more location samples include accelerationinformation relating to the at least one device; cause, at least inpart, another capture of at least another one of the one or morelocation samples based, at least in part, on a distance threshold, atemporal threshold, or a combination thereof with respect to the captureof the at least one of the one or more location samples; and processand/or facilitate a processing of the one or more location logs todetermine at least one mode of transportation based, at least in part,on the acceleration information.
 20. An apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe apparatus is further caused to: process and/or facilitate aprocessing of the one or more location logs to cause, at least in part,a filtering of the one or more location samples, wherein the one or morewaypoints are determined based, at least in part, on the filtering. 21.A method comprising: processing and/or facilitating a processing of oneor more location logs to determine one or more waypoints, wherein theone or more location logs include, at least in part, one or morelocation samples for at least one device on a traveled route; andprocessing and/or facilitating a processing of the one or more waypointsvia one or more routing engines to determine a calculated route as arepresentation of the traveled route.
 22. A method of claim 21, furthercomprising: determining an area bounded by the calculated route; andcausing, at least in part, a designation of the area as a conquered areaassociated with (a) the at least one device, (b) at least one userassociated with the at least one device, or (c) a combination thereof.23. A method of claim 22, further comprising: processing and/orfacilitating a processing of the one or more location logs to determineat least one mode of transportation; and causing, at least in part, anassociation of the at least one mode of transportation with the one ormore waypoints, the calculated route, the conquered area, or acombination thereof.
 24. A method of claim 23, further comprising:determining at least one dominance level associated with the area based,at least in part, on the at least one mode of transportation, whereinthe designation of the area as the conquered area is based, at least inpart, on the at least one dominance level.
 25. A method of claim 24,further comprising: determining respective one or more weighting valuesfor the at least one mode of transportation based, at least in part, onan activity level associated with the at least one mode oftransportation, wherein the at least one dominance level is furtherbased, at least in part, on the one or more weighting values.
 26. Amethod of claims 23-25, further comprising: processing and/orfacilitating a processing of the one or more location samples in the oneor more location logs via one or more models, one or more filters, or acombination thereof to determine the at least one mode oftransportation.
 27. A method of claims 23-26, further comprising:determining the one or more routing engines based, at least in part, onthe at least one mode of transportation.
 28. A method of claims 21-27,further comprising: processing and/or facilitating a processing of oneor more results of the one or more routing engines to cause, at least inpart, a post-processing, an aggregation, or a combination thereof of theone or more results to determine the calculated route.
 29. A method ofclaim 21-28, further comprising: causing, at least in part, a capture ofat least one of the one or more location samples, wherein the one ormore location samples include acceleration information relating to theat least one device; causing, at least in part, another capture of atleast another one of the one or more location samples based, at least inpart, on a distance threshold, a temporal threshold, or a combinationthereof with respect to the capture of the at least one of the one ormore location samples; and processing and/or facilitate a processing ofthe one or more location logs to determine at least one mode oftransportation based, at least in part, on the acceleration information.30. A method of claim 21-29, further comprising: processing and/orfacilitating a processing of the one or more location logs to cause, atleast in part, a filtering of the one or more location samples, whereinthe one or more waypoints are determined based, at least in part, on thefiltering.
 31. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and atleast one memory including computer program code for one or moreprograms, the at least one memory and the computer program codeconfigured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus toperform at least the following, process and/or facilitate a processingof one or more location logs to determine one or more waypoints, whereinthe one or more location logs include, at least in part, one or morelocation samples for at least one device on a traveled route; andprocess and/or facilitate a processing of the one or more waypoints viaone or more routing engines to determine a calculated route as arepresentation of the traveled route.
 32. An apparatus of claim 31,wherein the apparatus is further caused to: determine an area bounded bythe calculated route; and cause, at least in part, a designation of thearea as a conquered area associated with (a) the at least one device,(b) at least one user associated with the at least one device, or (c) acombination thereof.
 33. An apparatus of claim 32, wherein the apparatusis further caused to: process and/or facilitate a processing of the oneor more location logs to determine at least one mode of transportation;and cause, at least in part, an association of the at least one mode oftransportation with the one or more waypoints, the calculated route, theconquered area, or a combination thereof.
 34. An apparatus of claim 33,wherein the apparatus is further caused to: determine at least onedominance level associated with the area based, at least in part, on theat least one mode of transportation, wherein the designation of the areaas the conquered area is based, at least in part, on the at least onedominance level.
 35. An apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus isfurther caused to: determine respective one or more weighting values forthe at least one mode of transportation based, at least in part, on anactivity level associated with the at least one mode of transportation,wherein the at least one dominance level is further based, at least inpart, on the one or more weighting values.
 36. An apparatus of claims33-35, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: process and/orfacilitate a processing of the one or more location samples in the oneor more location logs via one or more models, one or more filters, or acombination thereof to determine the at least one mode oftransportation.
 37. An apparatus of claims 33-36, wherein the apparatusis further caused to: determine the one or more routing engines based,at least in part, on the at least one mode of transportation.
 38. Anapparatus of claims 31-37, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:process and/or facilitate a processing of one or more results of the oneor more routing engines to cause, at least in part, a post-processing,an aggregation, or a combination thereof of the one or more results todetermine the calculated route.
 39. An apparatus of claims 31-38,wherein the apparatus is further caused to: cause, at least in part, acapture of at least one of the one or more location samples, wherein theone or more location samples include acceleration information relatingto the at least one device; cause, at least in part, another capture ofat least another one of the one or more location samples based, at leastin part, on a distance threshold, a temporal threshold, or a combinationthereof with respect to the capture of the at least one of the one ormore location samples; and process and/or facilitate a processing of theone or more location logs to determine at least one mode oftransportation based, at least in part, on the acceleration information.40. An apparatus of claims 31-39, wherein the apparatus is furthercaused to: process and/or facilitate a processing of the one or morelocation logs to cause, at least in part, a filtering of the one or morelocation samples, wherein the one or more waypoints are determinedbased, at least in part, on the filtering.
 41. An apparatus according toany of claims 1-10 and 21-30, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phonefurther comprising: user interface circuitry and user interface softwareconfigured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of themobile phone through use of a display and configured to respond to userinput; and a display and display circuitry configured to display atleast a portion of a user interface of the mobile phone, the display anddisplay circuitry configured to facilitate user control of at least somefunctions of the mobile phone.
 42. A computer-readable storage mediumcarrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to perform atleast a method of any of claims 1-10 and 21-30.
 43. An apparatuscomprising means for performing at least a method of any of claims 1-10and 21-30.
 44. An apparatus of claim 43, wherein the apparatus is amobile phone further comprising: user interface circuitry and userinterface software configured to facilitate user control of at leastsome functions of the mobile phone through use of a display andconfigured to respond to user input; and a display and display circuitryconfigured to display at least a portion of a user interface of themobile phone, the display and display circuitry configured to facilitateuser control of at least some functions of the mobile phone.
 45. Acomputer program product including one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause anapparatus to at least perform at least a method of any of claims 1-10and 21-30.
 46. A method comprising facilitating access to at least oneinterface configured to allow access to at least one service, the atleast one service configured to perform at least a method of any ofclaims 1-10 and 21-30.
 47. A method comprising facilitating a processingof and/or processing (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at leastone signal, the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least onesignal based, at least in part, on at least a method of any of claims1-10 and 21-30.
 48. A method comprising facilitating creating and/orfacilitating modifying (1) at least one device user interface elementand/or (2) at least one device user interface functionality, the (1) atleast one device user interface element and/or (2) at least one deviceuser interface functionality based, at least in part, on at least amethod of any of claims 1-10 and 21-30.